Overview

• Italian ministers granted final sign-off on August 6 for the €13.5 billion project linking Sicily and Calabria across the Strait of Messina
• A Webuild-led consortium with Spain’s Sacyr and Japan’s IHI Corporation will oversee a single-span suspension bridge rising from two 399 m towers and a 60 m-wide deck
• Six traffic lanes, two emergency/service lanes and two central rail tracks are designed to handle up to 6,000 vehicles per hour and 200 trains per day
• Integrated works include 40 km of new roads and rail lines, ten viaducts, three underground stations and multiple tunnels tying into southern Italy corridors
• Expropriation appeals from over 440 landowners, environmental NGO complaints and regulatory reviews threaten to delay the planned 2026 start